Air Ship
|upkeep_cost = |num_figures = |moves = |melee = |ranged = |defense = |resist = |hits = |abilities = Ranged Attack x10 Scouting Wall Crusher }} The Air Ship is a type of Normal Unit. This unit is unique to the Draconian race, and can only be built in Draconian towns, for the Construction Cost of . The town must already contain a Ship Yard for this to be possible. Air Ships are the Draconian version of the Warship, a more common type of unit. It is essentially a very mobile Catapult, capable of Flying at great speeds. The Air Ship has a strong Ranged Attack that can easily hurt armored units, and can also destroy City Walls during a siege. Sadly, since patch 1.2, Air Ships are not actually "Ships" as defined by the game - since they cannot carry other units. Nonetheless, they are strong combatants and provide strong support - albeit mostly to non-Draconian armies. Air Ships require a hefty Upkeep Cost of and to maintain. Failure to pay these costs will result in the unit being disbanded automatically. Unit Properties Physical Description An Air Ship is a combat vessel, which looks just like a normal ship but possesses the ability to Fly. It features a single mast with a single large sail and utilizes wind power quite well for propulsion, making it one of the fastest units in the game. The Air Ship's crew is trained for combat, and operates the ship's accurate boulder-launching catapult which can strike hard at any target. The crewmen also carry weapons, and are fairly competent in their use. The bulk of the ship contains the crew quarters, the catapult, and the ammunition - leaving no room to carry other units in the hold. The Air Ship is a . Attack Properties The Air Ship has a powerful Ranged Attack, similar to that of a Catapult. It can hurt even well-armored units, but is overall not much stronger than that of other Draconian Ranged Attack units. In emergencies, the ship can use a Melee Attack which is unfortunately rather weak. The Air Ship's Ranged Attack strength is . This allows the ship to deal on average with each attack, pretty much ensuring at least some damage to enemy units, even well-armored ones. This Ranged Attack does suffer from To Hit penalties when firing at distant targets, and so is better when used up-close. The ship's speed is essential in ensuring that it can get close to its target before firing, and can move away quickly afterwards to avoid retribution. The Air Ship can use its Ranged Attack up to 10 times per battle. If it runs out of Ranged Attacks, or is forced into Melee combat by an enemy unit, the Air Ship resorts to a Melee Attack with a strength of . This is a rather weak attack, just slightly stronger than the attack of a single Halberdier, and will cause only on average. It should not be relied upon except in emergencies. In addition to causing damage to units, both of the Air Ship's attacks also utilize the Wall Crusher ability. During a siege battle at an enemy town surrounded by City Walls, the Air Ship can target individual wall sections in the same way that it normally targets enemy units. When such an attack is made, it has a certain chance of turning the targeted wall section to rubble. This opens a breach through which units can pass freely, and the defenders behind the wall lost most of their cover bonuses. The same chance applies when targeting any enemy unit that's adjacent to a wall section - in which case damage may be dealt both to the target unit and the nearby wall section! The chance of destroying City Wall sections is only 25% when the Air Ship uses its Ranged Attack, but 50% when using its Melee Attack. Defense Properties The Air Ship possesses an above-average Defense score for a Normal Unit, at . It can block about from any attack, on average. Furthermore, even damage that gets through is not too much of a problem, since the ship has a total of - allowing it to take a good amount of damage before being destroyed. Air Ships are also quite resistant to Curses and other combat maledictions, thanks to their Resistance score of . They can be expected to resist such ill effects at least half the time. With Experience, the unit can eventually become immune to most ill effects. Other Properties Air Ships are Flying units, and are some of the fastest-moving units in the game. Their Movement Allowance is , comparable to that of an Arch Angel or Sky Drake. The unit utilizes its speed both on the overland map and during combat to gain a significant advantage over its enemies. On the overland map, the Air Ship can move 4 tiles per turn regardless of the Terrain, and can cross Ocean tiles as easily as it does land tiles. This allows it to make sudden strikes into enemy territory through undefended areas, and withdraw just as quickly if necessary. Furthermore, its Flying ability gives it a large Sight Range of 2 tiles in every direction (including diagonally). The unit's Scouting ability sadly does not help here. During combat, Air Ships use their speed to get close to their targets before unleashing their strong Ranged Attack - thus removing any To Hit range penalties. The ship can just as easily withdraw from any enemy that tries to give chase, and might even be able to withdraw and fire at the same time. Basic Strategy The Air Ship is essentially a highly-mobile Catapult, and as such can have great strategic and tactical benefits. It is used in combat to provide support to other units, and can come in handy during siege battles as well. On the overland map, the Air Ship sadly lacks the ability to ferry troops around, but is nonetheless very fast on its own and thus makes a great unit for staging surprise raids. It can patrol the shorelines of an enemy empire, and then make a sudden strike into enemy territory. Several Air Ships working together can wreak havoc on enemy patrols or even take whole Towns this way. During combat, the Air Ship can easily use its fast movement speed to move to within 2 tiles of any target, and then begin bombarding that target with its Ranged Attacks. Staying close to the target reduces or eliminates all To Hit range penalties that the ship would otherwise suffer. The ship itself is also quite resistant to enemy Ranged Attacks thanks to its respectable Defense and high Hit Points pool, and most ground-based enemy units cannot initiate a Melee Attack against the Flying Air Ship, thus granting it further protection. If an enemy does give chase, the Air Ship can just as easily withdraw, since it is faster than almost any other unit. In fact, it is so fast that it can withdraw up to 3 tiles and then use its remaining Movement Point to make a Ranged Attack against its pursuer! Again, it's important to try to keep a distance of no more than 2 tiles, if possible, to minimize range penalties on the Air Ship's attack. Note that the Air Ship's high attack rating means that the best targets for its attack are highly-armored ones. The Air Ship will usually go after the strongest unit on the battlefield, since few other Draconian units can do so much damage to armored targets. Several Air Ships repeatedly firing at the same Fantastic Creature or Hero could possibly kill it, if given enough time. Note however that once an Air Ship runs out of Ranged Attacks, it can contribute little to the battle except serving as a target to draw enemies away from weaker units or pull enemies into a trap. Finally, it's important to note the Air Ship's Wall Crusher ability. This may not be so useful for Draconian armies, as all Draconian units can simply fly over City Walls. Still, in an army with mixed units (i.e. not just Draconian units), a breach in the wall can be crucial, and the Air Ship can provide that breach rather easily. Also, destroying City Wall sections reduces the protection to units hiding behind those walls, making it easier to kill those units - especially with Ranged Attacks. Ability Overview Ranged Attack x10 * This unit may use a instead of a Melee Attack up to 10 times in each battle. Scouting * Increases the unit's Sight Range to 2. On the overland map, this unit can now reveal the fog-of-war and detect enemy units within 2 tiles of its position (including diagonals). * : Flying units do not benefit from this ability at all, as their Sight Range is already 2 tiles in each direction. This ability should've increased Sight Range further for such units, but it does not. Wall Crusher * This unit can make Melee Attacks and/or Ranged Attacks (as available) against City Walls. Each attack has a certain chance to destroy the targeted wall section for the remainder of the battle. * A Ranged Attack has a 25% chance of destroying the targeted wall section. A Melee Attack has a 50% chance of destroying the targeted wall section. * If an enemy unit is standing behind the wall when it is attacked, the Wall Crusher unit attacks that unit as well. Defense bonuses to the target unit depend on whether or not the wall is destroyed during this attack. * This ability can only destroy City Walls. Other, magical wall types are not affected. Experience Table The following table illustrates how Air Ships improve as they gain Experience. Any properties that are not listed here do not improve with Experience in any way. * To achieve this level, either the Warlord Retort or the Crusade spell must be in play. ** To achieve this level, both the Warlord Retort and the Crusade spell must be in play simultaneously. Average Damage Output The table below details the average amount of damage that an Air Ship unit will deliver with each type of attack, based on . It can be used in comparison to the target's Defense rating to figure out the chance of hurting that target. Acquisition Air Ships are unique to the Draconian race, and thus may be produced in any Draconian Town. A town must contain a Ship Yard to be able to produce Air Ships. Should a town lose its Ship Yard, it can no longer produce Air Ships until a replacement structure is built. The Construction Cost of this unit is . Air Ships may appear for hire as Mercenaries. They may already have some Experience on being hired, and several units may be hired simultaneously. Hiring these units requires a certain cost in that depends on many different factors. Air Ship Mercenaries have the same Upkeep Cost as a normally-constructed unit. Category:Units Category:Normal Units Category:Draconians